Civilians flee Mosul

MOSUL: Iraqi troops battled Islamic State fighters for control of a bridge over the River Tigris in Mosul yesterday as civilians streamed out of recaptured western neighbourhoods – cold, wet and hungry, but relieved to be free of the militants’ grip.

Progress by Interior Ministry rapid response units had been slowed by rain on Monday, but heavy fighting resumed yesterday, with the Iron Bridge the prize at stake.

Government forces also pushed into areas of western Mosul, IS’s last redoubt in the city that has been the de facto capital of their selfdeclared caliphate.